Beware of Fake Apple Security Software

Both MACDefender and Mac Security are fakes. Don’t install it, or you’ll end up along with thousands of other victims searching the Apple forums for a way to get rid of the pornographic pictures it pops up on your screen.

MACDefender seems to have been successful because of the work its creators did to make it appear high up in search results. The number of people seeking help was uncovered by ZDNet journalist Ed Bott. In a blog post, he wrote about finding more than 200 separate discussions on Apple’s official forums about MACDefender. The volume of reports about the problem was “exceptional” in his experience, he said.

MacDefender is part of a style of attack called “ScareWare,” and is intended to scare its victims into installing the software on their computers due to the supposed presence of a virus on the victim’s computer. ScareWare turns out to be the problem and it can cause everything from data loss and data theft through massive computer disruption.